5 Tools to Help School Leaders Model Web 2.o Tools for Staff
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Ghandi
Ever sat through a “sit and get” professional development session where the presenter creates a case for student engagement with his best 124 PowerPoint slides? If anything those of us in the education profession have grown to appreciate the irony of professional development. My new favorite genre is professional development on the topic of innovation that is anything but innovative. We have all been there. How many of you as school leaders find yourself pushing web 2.0 tools to your staff, but are not modeling them yourself? Guess what your staff thinks about that?
School leaders, if you want to promote the integration of web 2.0 tools in your school, don’t rely on sending your staff to professional development. Ghandi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Take heed. If you want 21st century tech in your school, start using tech tools in YOUR daily work. You don’t have to be an expert right away. Start with one tool and expand as you are comfortable. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
1. More efficient announcements:
How do you currently deliver information to your staff? Many schools gather the entire staff in a room and undergo a ritual that looks a lot like one person reading their email to a large group. Model “anytime, anywhere learning.” Screen cast your announcements and make them available to staff to view when it is most convenient for them to view. You can have the same impact on afternoon announcements. Nothing is worse as a teacher than trying to wrap up your last class of the day and being interrupted by the announcements coming over the intercom system. Record audio/video announcements and allow staff to view them at the time they feel works best in their classroom. I believe in quick wins. If you want a quick win for your staff, try making school or staff announcements using screencasting or video recording and give your staff ownership on when they are viewed.
Create a Keynote or Powerpoint presentation and narrate the slides.
Create a video of you sharing the announcements.
Jing is a free download. It also allows you to screen capture.
Sharing Options:
Create a YouTube channel and house the announcements in one place.
Store on your school’s network drive that is accessible to all staff.
Staff Applications: Challenge your staff to create and share screencasts with their students. If the key content from lessons was explained using screencasting, students could access it anytime and anywhere.
2. Collaborative Documents Are Your Friend
One year ago, I had never used a Google Doc. I can not imagine my professional life now without Google Docs. The next time you find yourself typing an agenda for a meeting using Word or Pages, try creating a Google Doc instead. Copy the agenda on the Google Doc and share the link with your staff. Have staff take collaborative notes. Why should everyone take individual notes when they can collaborate and share? The advantage is that you will all be on the same page (literally and figuratively) and you can save the document for your records.
Suggested Tools:
I am a big fan of Google Docs because it is free and easy.
Staff Applications: Options are limitless in a 1:1 environment, but what if your school doesn’t have devices? Our staff regularly uses Google Docs to collaborate on intervention plans, schedule parent meetings and collaborate on lesson planning.
3. Gather Staff Input Efficiently Using Free Tools:
Google Forms allows you to set up a survey quickly. You can share a link to the survey with your staff and have access to the results immediately. You only need a Google account to create a form. Anyone with a link to your form can access and complete the form. This is a terrific way to take the pulse of your staff on key issues and gather input on the important decisions that impact them. It won’t be long before some high flyers among your staff to make the connections. Soon they will be using Google Forms to gather input from students and parents. You will begin to notice students taking quizzes on Google Forms rather than paper and pencil. If Google Forms doesn’t work for you or you are looking for a new tool for your toolkit, try Poll Everywhere. Ask staff a question and have them text a code to a number provided on the site. The results show up in live time to create a bar graph of the results. Poll Everywhere accounts are free to set up. Mac users can download a free app making it possible to embed PollEverywhere polls into your Keynote presentations.
Staff Applications: Challenge staff to use Google Forms to collect quick data from students or parents. Encourage them to utilize these tools for bell ringers and exit slips.
4. Encourage a Backchannel During Meetings: Use Today’s Meet to set up a free chat room for staff and share the link. During your presentations or staff meetings encourage staff to ask questions and share on the backchannel. Take time to stop and address the questions raised in the backchannel. It may take a couple of sessions for the group to get acclimated to utilizing it fully, but I often find the discussion in the backchannel is as rich, if not richer, than the conversation in the meeting. Equip your staff with channels to activate and share their voice. Here is a LiveBinder explaining the concept of the backchannel in more detail. Suggested Tool:
Staff Applications: In 1:1 and BYOD environments, encourage staff to use a backchannel for students. It is a great space for allowing questions without (gasp!) raising hands. Students can respond to each other while the teacher is teaching. Encourage one co-teacher to facilitate the backchannel while the other facilitates.
5. Integrate a Wiki
Wikispaces allows you to set up a free account and create your own wikis. What can you do with your wiki? If you send out staff letters, upload the letter to your wiki. Do you screen cast announcements? Embed the video on your wiki. Try linking important web links to your wiki so your staff can access them at any time. I love using wikis to serve as interactive agendas for professional development. I link the Google Doc staff will use to take notes. I link the backchannel and relevant materials. I even link a Google Form to gather feedback following the session. The best part about a wiki is you can make it private and open it up only to those you want to have access. Even better, you can define who has the right to edit the wiki. Collaborate with others to build a wiki. We are currently building a school wiki to house links to all of the web 2.0 tools we are learning. A team of teachers builds the links over time, so the site grows daily.
5 Tools to Help School Leaders Model Web 2.o Tools for Staff
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Ghandi
Ever sat through a “sit and get” professional development session where the presenter creates a case for student engagement with his best 124 PowerPoint slides? If anything those of us in the education profession have grown to appreciate the irony of professional development. My new favorite genre is professional development on the topic of innovation that is anything but innovative. We have all been there. How many of you as school leaders find yourself pushing web 2.0 tools to your staff, but are not modeling them yourself? Guess what your staff thinks about that?
School leaders, if you want to promote the integration of web 2.0 tools in your school, don’t rely on sending your staff to professional development. Ghandi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Take heed. If you want 21st century tech in your school, start using tech tools in YOUR daily work. You don’t have to be an expert right away. Start with one tool and expand as you are comfortable. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
1. More efficient announcements:
How do you currently deliver information to your staff? Many schools gather the entire staff in a room and undergo a ritual that looks a lot like one person reading their email to a large group. Model “anytime, anywhere learning.” Screen cast your announcements and make them available to staff to view when it is most convenient for them to view.You can have the same impact on afternoon announcements. Nothing is worse as a teacher than trying to wrap up your last class of the day and being interrupted by the announcements coming over the intercom system. Record audio/video announcements and allow staff to view them at the time they feel works best in their classroom.
I believe in quick wins. If you want a quick win for your staff, try making school or staff announcements using screencasting or video recording and give your staff ownership on when they are viewed.
Suggested Tools:
- Quicktime for screen recording.
- Create a Keynote or Powerpoint presentation and narrate the slides.
- Create a video of you sharing the announcements.
- Jing is a free download. It also allows you to screen capture.
Sharing Options:- Create a YouTube channel and house the announcements in one place.
- Store on your school’s network drive that is accessible to all staff.
Staff Applications:Challenge your staff to create and share screencasts with their students. If the key content from lessons was explained using screencasting, students could access it anytime and anywhere.
2. Collaborative Documents Are Your Friend
One year ago, I had never used a Google Doc. I can not imagine my professional life now without Google Docs. The next time you find yourself typing an agenda for a meeting using Word or Pages, try creating a Google Doc instead. Copy the agenda on the Google Doc and share the link with your staff. Have staff take collaborative notes. Why should everyone take individual notes when they can collaborate and share? The advantage is that you will all be on the same page (literally and figuratively) and you can save the document for your records.Suggested Tools:
Staff Applications:
Options are limitless in a 1:1 environment, but what if your school doesn’t have devices? Our staff regularly uses Google Docs to collaborate on intervention plans, schedule parent meetings and collaborate on lesson planning.
3. Gather Staff Input Efficiently Using Free Tools:
Google Forms allows you to set up a survey quickly. You can share a link to the survey with your staff and have access to the results immediately. You only need a Google account to create a form. Anyone with a link to your form can access and complete the form.This is a terrific way to take the pulse of your staff on key issues and gather input on the important decisions that impact them. It won’t be long before some high flyers among your staff to make the connections. Soon they will be using Google Forms to gather input from students and parents. You will begin to notice students taking quizzes on Google Forms rather than paper and pencil.
If Google Forms doesn’t work for you or you are looking for a new tool for your toolkit, try Poll Everywhere. Ask staff a question and have them text a code to a number provided on the site. The results show up in live time to create a bar graph of the results. Poll Everywhere accounts are free to set up. Mac users can download a free app making it possible to embed PollEverywhere polls into your Keynote presentations.
Suggested Tools:
- Google Forms
- Poll Everywhere
Staff Applications:Challenge staff to use Google Forms to collect quick data from students or parents. Encourage them to utilize these tools for bell ringers and exit slips.
4. Encourage a Backchannel During Meetings:
Use Today’s Meet to set up a free chat room for staff and share the link. During your presentations or staff meetings encourage staff to ask questions and share on the backchannel. Take time to stop and address the questions raised in the backchannel. It may take a couple of sessions for the group to get acclimated to utilizing it fully, but I often find the discussion in the backchannel is as rich, if not richer, than the conversation in the meeting. Equip your staff with channels to activate and share their voice. Here is a LiveBinder explaining the concept of the backchannel in more detail.
Suggested Tool:
- Todays Meet
Staff Applications:In 1:1 and BYOD environments, encourage staff to use a backchannel for students. It is a great space for allowing questions without (gasp!) raising hands. Students can respond to each other while the teacher is teaching. Encourage one co-teacher to facilitate the backchannel while the other facilitates.
5. Integrate a Wiki
Wikispaces allows you to set up a free account and create your own wikis. What can you do with your wiki? If you send out staff letters, upload the letter to your wiki. Do you screen cast announcements? Embed the video on your wiki. Try linking important web links to your wiki so your staff can access them at any time.I love using wikis to serve as interactive agendas for professional development. I link the Google Doc staff will use to take notes. I link the backchannel and relevant materials. I even link a Google Form to gather feedback following the session.
The best part about a wiki is you can make it private and open it up only to those you want to have access. Even better, you can define who has the right to edit the wiki. Collaborate with others to build a wiki. We are currently building a school wiki to house links to all of the web 2.0 tools we are learning. A team of teachers builds the links over time, so the site grows daily.